We Won't Break
by iceskater7
Summary: A girl named Kayden is searching for a past she never knew. Jeb had told her and her flock moments before he died to find Maximum Ride and she would find her destiny before its too late. Who is Kayden and whats she have to do with Max? FAX!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, my third fanfic, so tell me what you think. And if you have any suggestions, if anything needs improving, don't be afraid to tell me. I respect constructive criticism. And encouraging criticism as well. Nice reviews never hurt anybody! And you WILL be seeing the flock members in this, for those of you who were worried about that. (Hint; hint)**

**Chapter 1**

**Kayden pov.**

"Guys, we have to go." I yell at them and look back to see the flyboys still following us. "Now!"

"Aw. Come on, Kayden," Eli grins sheepishly, "I think we can afford to tease 'em a bit."

"Eli, we're leaving right now, and that's that!" Jeez, he was such an idiot! I swear half the time he just wants to get us killed.

We start flying at top speed back toward our currant hideout. Well, we had a different one practically every day. We were on a mission. Not for Itex, but for ourselves.

_"Find Maximum Ride,"_ Jeb had said moments before he had been shot, _"Find her, and you will find your destiny."_

Well, it all seemed like a load of crap now. We'd been searching two years now and not even a trace. Some hybrids we are. And I don't even know what the girl looks like or who she is. Sure, I had heard the stories, back at the cages in Itex when we had been allowed free time in their new facility called the Dome, basically a big indestructible dome in which all of us hybrids were allowed to 'socialize'. There were adults there who had told stories of Maximum Ride, a so-called legend. She had saved practically half of humanity.

Of course not many of us believed it. We thought the people telling the stories were just trying to get a good laugh out of us. But when Jeb had told me that, while basically lying on his death bed, I thought maybe they weren't lying. I mean, why would Jeb tell me that if it meant nothing? Knowing him it could just be to confuse us. But who knows?

About a year after Jeb had died I escaped from Itex with several others, and now we were searching for the Flock. _The _Flock, as everyone calls them now. It's said to have been twenty-five years since Maximum and her flock saved the world.

But I'm just some fifteen year old who's been on the run for too long, accomplishing nothing. I don't even have a last name. It's just . . . Kayden. There's nothing else to it. Jeb had said that was the name I was born with. But he wouldn't say more than that. I have no clue who my parents are, and neither do any of the rest of my flock.

My flock consisted of me (Kayden), fifteen. Eli, fourteen. Jennalie, fifteen. Ryker, fifteen. Shawn, eleven. Morrie, thirteen. Matt, sixteen. And Ray, twelve.

Matt was the leader.

We arrive at our currant campsite, we have a new one practically every two days, sometimes more often than that. Actually sometimes we've only stayed at one campsite for no more than a few hours.

I look around our area in annoyance. It looked like we would be moving locations, _again_. Figures. The little clearing was completely destroyed. Meaning they had found it. Itex and all their flyboys and techs. Techs are Itex's new creations of torture pretty much. Techs are basically _insanely unfairly _enhanced erasers. Seriously, it would take all of us to defeat ONE of them. And just barely. They have no weaknesses.

"Where to now?" I ask Matt.

"Umm, Colorado." He replies.

"Why Colorado?" I ask.

"You've heard the stories." He says. "They all said that Maximum's flock lived in Colorado. I did some research the last time we were at the library. I think I know where their house might've been. They might be there, they might not. It would have to be isolated from a lot of people so they could've flown freely. Probably quite a bit of land. Out of the way, not really near anything. Somewhere in the mountains would probably be my guess."

"Matt! You're a genius!" I exclaim.

So we start flying with Matt directing us as usual. Ryker flies up next to me. "Are you starting to think this is all pointless? Like chasing a myth?"

I look at him, with his soft blonde hair rustling as we fly and his blue eyes sparkling, and nod. "I've been thinking that from the day we've started. But you know what Jeb said. That we'd find our destiny. I dunno, I just keep hoping they're real. Think about it. They might know who our parents are."

He smiles slightly. "Yeah, that'd be cool. But thinking and hoping is different than reality." He drops down below me to talk to Jennalie. I look straight forward.

For a while I just kind of zone out but then, hours must have passed. Matt yells out to the rest of us, "There it is! Land!"

Directly below is us a house, sort of shaped like an E. There are forests everywhere, no civilians anywhere around here. The place is completely blocked off from the world.

We land and the front door is open. The windows are all cracked and broken. There's vines growing all over the house, the wildlife slowly taking over.

Basically, in other words, the place looks like it's been abandoned for decades.

We take a step inside and then the door slams shut behind us and techs jump out from everywhere. "Hello Kayden." One of them says. He cracks his knuckles. Here we go again.

"Hello tech-head. How may we be of service today?" I snarl.

The tech motions for another two to take his place by the door and he waltzes over around us like a shark circling its prey. "Oh, nothing really. Today we're only making you go into a crate." He sneers. The other techs chuckle deeply.

"Sounds like fun. Why don't you get in to test it out first? I'm sure the white coats would be very angry to realize that we were suffocated to death by accident before they could get their needles in us."

The tech pretends to consider this. "Well, I'm sure they would also be very angry to learn that their head tech was suffocated too."

"And they'll be even more upset to find you've been beaten to death by a fifteen year old girl." I say and then everything spins into motion. I kick him hard in his gut and he whips his hand out and grabs my arm.

I twist myself to the right and elbow him in the ribcage. He doesn't even wince. I knew this was a lost cause but I knew I had to give it a try.

The tech turns my arm in a strange and painful way and presses me against his stomach, allowing me no free access of will.

The tech nods to his buddies and they capture the rest of my flock in a matter of moments.

The eraser holding me throws me to one other tech and he holds me tightly. The head tech turns to his fellow techs, and us, and says, "Okay, load 'em up boys. And make sure the 'Queen' here get's treated equally." The techs laugh at this.

I give him a death glare. I had always wondered why they treated me as leader when Matt was in charge of us. They always would direct questions to me, snarl jokes at me, and treat me the hardest.

They shove us into a couple crates in the back of a moving van. The crates were dark and dreary and dank. I was in a crate with Ryker and Matt. I could barely see my hands in front of me.

Ryker bangs on the steel crate roughly. He pushes against the wall. He kicks it with his foot. Nothing happens. We weren't going anywhere.

**There will be an appearance of a flock member in this next chapter. Yay, right? Please review and tell me what you think. Yes, there will be Fax in this story. So review, review, review. -Kristen**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, sorry for the wait. Unfortunately my PC's Internet isn't working and Word Doc. won't download on my Mac so I'm having some technical issues here, but I'm working on getting these things fixed. Sorry again for the long LONG wait! Just don't expect much till July really. Again, so sorry!**

**Chapter 2**

**Kayden Pov.**

"This is so stupid!" Shawn complains.

"I swear if you say that one more time I'm going to bang your head against the floor!" Morrie groans.

"What? It is!" Shawn continues.

Morrie puts her head in between her knees. "Yeah, but you don't need to point that out fifty times!"

Shawn folds his arms. "Well at least I––"

"Shut up!" Matt yells at him, losing his cool for just about the first time in years. They stop yelling.

Shawn and Morrie have always been known for argue for as long as I've known them. Normally we all just joke about it, but sometimes it can get plain irritating . . . especially when they're in a crate together and are arguing loud enough to be heard through the wall of the steel crate. Matt hardly ever freaks out, it seems like. Sure, he's had his moments though. Like right now for instance. When he is in one of his bad moods though, for fair warning, stay clear away.

And that would be why Ryker and I are trying not to talk to him . . .

The truck hits a pothole and we bang against each other violently. The sudden jerking reminds me how much I can't wait till we get wherever we're going . . . and then I remember the test tubes, the needles, the lab rat testings and I change my mind.

Eventually i drift asleep and am jerked awake by the loud voices of Tech's and shouting of humans. The back of the truck opens and Tech's shove us out of our crates and I squint in the darkness to see where we are.

All I see is . . . well, nothing really. Just one lone building, the perimeter surrounded with dead shrubs that look like they've been there years. It was pale white. Not much else to it.

"Move!" I glance over to see one of the Techs jabbing Matt in the side with his arm to get him to start walking.

"Make me!" He yells intransigently.

"That can be arranged." The Tech cracks his knuckles.

Suddenly out of nowhere Ryker hurls himself at the Tech and they both go crashing down to the ground, punching and kicking at each other. Another Tech comes over and easily lifts Ryker off of the Tech with one hand.

"Both of you, behave!" The Tech yells angrily.

The Techs lead us into the building and shove us into a (you guessed it) white room. They lock the door and I look around. Its completely empty except for a couple chairs. On one of the chairs is a woman, somewhere in her twenties probably, with curly blond hair.

When she sees us her blue eyes go wide. "Oh my God . . ."

"Hi to you too." Matt says and we walk over to her.

She stands up and glides over to him. Then she looks at me, then Ryker, then everyone else as though analyzing us each.

A smile spreads through her lips.

"Who are you?" Matt demands.

"My names Angel. What are yours?" She asks.

"I'm Matt. This is Kayden, Jennalie, Ryker, Morrie, Shawn, Ray, and Eli."

Her smile grows even wider and it starts to creep me out.

"Where are we?" Matt continues.

"Itex." Angel says solemnly. "Where'd they catch you guys?"

"Kay, you explain this one. I'm gonna have a look around." Matt says and starts scoping through the room.

"Why don't we sit down." Angel suggests motherly.

We nod and take a seat. "Okay, well, first of all, we're trying to find The Flock. You know, Maximum Ride's flock." At the mention of Maximum Ride Angel freezes and a look of pure joy settles on her face.

"Max . . ." She says.

"Yeah, you met her?" I ask.

"I lived with her. She was like a mother to me." She nods.

"Wait, so, you're one of The Flock?" I ask incredulously.

She opens her mouth to answer but the door busts open and Techs come bustling in.

"You guys, come with us. Angel, stay here." One of them orders. "Don't even try to escape." He growls.

They lead us to a, how ironic, completely white room. There's seven chairs. They motion for us to sit down.

A female white coat walks in and looks us over. "My, my, this batch is quite easy to control compared to the first one." I try not to think about what that means.

"Why are we here?" Matt says tonelessly. We had been through this situation too many times to count.

"Well, first of all, " the white coat says, "you were stupid enough to believe that that house was actually Jeb's old house where he kept the flock--"

"We know how we got here! That's not what we asked. We wanted to know why we're here!" I blurt out.

Matt gives me a look that says 'shut up and let me do the talking before you ruin something else'.

I shrug. The white coat eyes me suspiciously. "Ah, there's always a feisty one in the litter. Tell me here darling, why were you chosen as leader?"

"I'm the leader!" Matt yells angrily before I get a chance to respond.

"Oh . . ." The white coat smiles?" Matt asks, fury in his eyes. He's been losing his cool a lot more than usual lately. I guess I can't really say I blame him though. We all have.

"Just tell us why we're here." Eli speaks up.

"For testing, of course. What else?" She laughs hysterically.

Great. Just great. Why are all the white coats such big lunatics with no hearts?

**Review please! Even though I haven't updated in like a month (probably more). Oh great. _She _called again. Sorry, there's this girl who's called me exactly sixteen times in the past two days! Seriously, I counted. Its getting ANNOYING!! Anyways, just please review!! -Kristen **


	3. Author's Note

**A/N:**

**Hey everyone! So . . . I know you are all like "Wow, what happened to Kristen? I think she fell off the edge of the earth . . ."**

**But I'm alive? Hooray? Maybe you won't kill me yourselves for not updating? In over a year? Or . . . perhaps you were hoping I had fallen off of the edge of the earth (Oh dear, how I hope not, though!). **

**But after much consideration, I think I am going to try to finish off this story. I recently just typed up and finished my last chapter of The Tunnel (After like a year, also. Oops) today. And it got me a bit inspired. Of course, with all my other ridiculous writing projects outside of FanFiction, and my skating a billion hours a week, and school, and insane volunteer hours at the hospital, I'm not really sure WHEN I will get around to writing in this story. But alas, I shall try~!**

**Oh, and I also have to kind of . . . come up with the plot again. Because I have no earthly idea where the paper went that I wrote this stuff on. I have like no idea. I actually am being forced to going back and rereading it myself. o.O Wish me luck!**

**But don't get mad if I hardly ever update . . . **

**~Kristen**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! So if you read my my lovely author's note, then you'll know what's going on! Recently became addicted to FanFiction again and all the lovely reviewers! Honestly, reviewers make a whole world's difference, believe it or not! Now, I actually had to go back through my previous two chapters and take notes in my special new notebook and now I must rework the story, because I don't remember anything from the original plot. Well . . . nothing of importance, at least. So I hope I don't screw anything up. If something is inconsistent with the prior two chapters, I would be glad if you pointed out these mistakes for me to fix! **

**Now, also be warned that the timing of these chapters will probably also be very inconsistent, due to my hectic schedule. So if I do not update in like . . . say a month or so . . . there is no need to be alarmed (most likely). Its just me forgetting about FanFiction and becoming overly preoccupied. Sorry. Here is the (hopefully) anticipated third chapter. **

**Chapter 3**

**Max Pov. **

It is half past ten A.M. and I have no idea what to do. This was my life. Boredom. Worrying. Wishing for things to be. I pull out an old picture. You could see by the photograph's worn edges and fading color that it is of great value to me. 

It was the Flock; I was fifteen. This was practically the only picture any of us had ever taken. More or less, for security reasons. 

Fang had his arm around me, and we were both smiling wearily. Iggy was yelling at Nudge for tricking him into thinking that the camera was behind him, confusing him. Nudge just had a sheepish look on her face. Angel's golden curly hair actually looked well-kept, and her eyes were bright, and Gazzy was jumping up in the background, trying to see over Iggy's head. All of us had various cuts and bruises scattered across us. 

It was the day after we brought down Itex. The day that all of our lives changed. 

There was only one more picture I had. I was in my twenties, and I was holding my daughter. Fang was lounging next to me, as though he were about to pass out, and Gazzy and Nudge were giggling about something a little further behind Fang. Angel was taking the picture, she was well into her teen years, and her powers had reached new limits. Its a shame she never got to use them to bring down Itex. 

I stared at my daughter. The only thing I remember were her eyes. They were dark. Very dark. She was only two days old. The white coats took her away. I remember the day as if it were only hours ago. She was but weeks old when they took her. 

_"Where are you going?" I asked Fang. My face was strewn with tears. _

_"Where do you think? I'm going to go get her back." He looked at me incredulously. "Max, I have to find her."_

_"Then I'm coming with you." I concluded. _

_He shook his head and took my hands in his. "No. I have to do this by myself." _

_"She's my daughter, too, Fang." My brow furrowed. _

_"The rest of the Flock needs you. I'll bring her back. I promise. I love you."_

Those were the last words Fang ever said to me. He never came back. The door opens and startles me. I quickly shove the pictures carefully inside of an ornamental box. 

"Mom?" Caroline calls. 

"I'm in the living room." My voice is a little shaky. I take deep breathes. 

Caroline is my other daughter. When Fang left in search of Kayden, I was pregnant. Neither of us knew it at the time. If we had, things might have been different. Caroline knows nothing about Kayden. Or Fang, for that matter. She is fourteen years old. 

"What's wrong?" She tilts her head and her wavy brown hair cascades over her shoulder. 

"Nothing. Nothing. Just a long day."

**Kayden Pov. **

"My arm hurts!" Morrie sobs. 

"You're thirteen. Get over it." Shawn rolls his eyes. 

"That injection felt really weird." She whines, ignoring Shawn's command. 

"She's right, Shawn, that injection did feel kind of strange." Matt takes note as a large bruise whelps up around the small hole in the skin. "Hope its nothing fatal." 

We are back in the Dome. They really haven't put us in cages this time around. I guess they figure this is easier. 

Ryker is sitting on a large rock, sharpening a stick aimlessly. I go over and take a seat beside him on the large boulder. "I can't believe we're back here again."

"It was expected." He states tacitly. 

"That's probably true. We've been in and out of all these facilities for our entire lives. I guess I just hoped this time it would be different." I sigh in defeat. 

"It never is." He says in monotony. 

"Wow. You're cheerful." I comment. 

"You bet." He grumbles. 

"Alright then . . ." I hop off the rock and look around. What had they done with Angel? Was she still here? I sure hope so. She knew Max. That was valuable, just in itself. 

"Looking for me?" Says a sweet voice. 

I turn around to see Angel, standing behind me. She was rather short for a hybrid, but yet tall for a human. Her curly hair had been chopped at her shoulders recently. Though she had to at least be in her late twenties, she still had a young look about her. 

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about Max?" I bite my lip. 

She nods. "Of course. You're Kayden, right?" 

"Yes." I reply. 

She breaks into that grin once more and surveys my appearance. "You look exactly like her." 

"Who?" 

"Max." Angel is smiling, but has an off look in her eyes, as if in the process of trying to reminisce many things from her childhood. 

"So you knew Jeb?" I ask, and we sit down on a log. 

"Of course. I lived with him for the first few years of my life." She nods.

"Moments before he was about to die, he told me to find Maximum Ride, and I would find my destiny. Do you know what that means?" I ask, silently begging for her to know something. Anything. Just to give me some word of encouragement that there really was a Maximum Ride out there. An alive Maximum Ride. 

She cocks her head a bit. "I don't recall anything about that. At all. I'm sorry. I usually would know things such as this, but I have no memory of anyone saying or thinking something about this." A look of concentration sweeps over her face. "We need to get out of here."

"Is Max still alive?" I ask curiously. 

"Yes. Well, as far as I know. I haven't seen her in about one or two years. The flock went separate ways." 

"What happened?" I ask. 

She smiles once more. She sure is a cheery person. It hardly made sense. "I think that is something that I'll let Max explain to you once we get to her. But for now, let's just get out of here before they inject you guys with more toxic chemicals and poisons."

**I know its rather short, especially since I haven't umm . . . updated in so long, you guys probably deserve something much longer, but I'll work on it! Sorry for the wait, I really am! I'll try to start back up with writing more consistently. And excuse any grammatical or spelling errors, I haven't edited it. No time for that right now. ~Kristen** 


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello, guys! Aren't you proud of me? I updated within a month's time! As you can probably guess, I am not one of those people who will update once a week . . . obviously. So anyways . . . hmm. I actually don't have anything to say in this small author's note which is usually filled with me ranting about excuses for not writing . . . but alas! It escapes me. Oh look . . . my brother's cat . . . **

**Disclaimer––Max. Flock=Patterson. **

**Claimer––Kayden. Ryker. Plot. Et cetera=Me. **

**Chapter 4**

**Kayden Pov. **

"And how do you propose we escape?" I ask Angel, looking around incredulously. After all of the months and years we've been stuck in these things, they were always harder to get out of than cages were.

"I have my ways." Angels smiles, her head titled innocently to the side.

"You mind sharing?" Ryker lifts an eyebrow, as if all hope is lost. In fact . . . with Ryker . . . I think all hope _may_, in fact, be lost.

Angel merely smiles. "Let's just say that I have a few developed abilities which have yet to be revealed to the White Coats."

"Great." Matt's expression lights up. "Then let's get crackin'! I want outa this place!"

Eli shakes his head. "No, dude. Just no. You're too smart to use slang."

Matt lifts his hands in question, and I see Ryker smile.

Jennalie leans over to me. "Look, the King of Depression caves in!" We laugh quietly, but when Ryker realizes he's smiling, it quickly fades, and he is back to his usual demeanor.

Without warning, a small part of the Dome's wall starts swirling. We stare in awe, except for Angel. Angel has her eyes closed, and has her face turned toward the ground. Her brow is creased n concentration, and her lips are slightly parted.

The small vortex grows a bit, and within a minute's time, a hole starts to grow from the center outward. Angel motions with her right hand for us to go through. Matt nods and we all follow his lead, with Angel trailing behind us. Once we are all through, the vortex immediately closes and stops spinning.

Angel instantly jumps into the air, leaving us all confused. She then stops midair, and turns toward us impatiently. Oh. We were supposed to follow.

**Nudge Pov. **

"Iggy! We are going to be late!" I screamed up the stairs.

"Well, maybe if you would help me find my shoes, we could be on time for once!" He retorts.

"Since when have you ever needed help finding shoes?" I grunted angrily.

"Since they are mysteriously out of their usual place." He stumbles down the stairs with flip flops.

"You have to be kidding me." I grumble and throw open the closet door, and toss him a random pair of sneakers, which he catches deftly.

A little girl with blond hair, around the age of ten, runs back inside the house. "Mom, we're late to everything." She gives Nudge a look of pity, her eyes large and remorseful.

"I'm trying, Brooke. But your daddy seems to have lost his shoes." I tap my foot anxiously.

Brooke frowns, and runs back outside, yelling at her thirteen year old brother, "You hear that, Cameron? We're late because _you_ spilled coffee in dad's shoes!"

"Coffee?" I say to myself incredulously, and start laughing.

"Okay, I'm ready." Iggy mumbles and walks outside. "Cameron, did you seriously pour coffee in my good shoes?"

Cameron's flicks his dark hair out of his eyes with an olive colored hand. "Brooke pushed me into the table."

Brooke puts her hands on her hips. "I did no such thing, mister!"

I can't help but laugh, and Iggy laughs, too. "We have very interesting children, Nudge." He says as he climbs into the passengers seat. "And I still can't get over using cars. I think we should just fly."

"Sure, Iggy. We can fly, but I think that would defeat the whole point of trying to fit in here. Hang on, I'm going to go get the mail."

"But _mom_! We're late!" Brooke and Cameron cry in unison.

"It'll only take a minute." I glare at them, and they stop talking.

I walk over to the mailbox in haste, but there is only one scrap of paper inside. _Expect us in three days. --Angel _

**Kayden Pov. **

About a day and a half into our journey, finally someone has the courage to ask Angel the question which has been running through all of our heads. "So . . . where are we going?" Eli flies up toward Angel.

"You've all heard of the other members of the flock, right? Aside from Max?"

He nods in return.

"Have you heard of Nudge and Iggy?"

"Iggy's the blind one, right?" Matt questions.

"Yes. And Nudge is the one who is good with computers." Angel replies.

"Wait, so they're alive, too?" I ask, hopefully.

"Of course. We are going to go see Nudge and Iggy. I don't know where the others are, at this moment. But I know they keep in touch with Max, so once we get to their house, then we can locate Max." Angel explains.

"There were two others, though. Fang, and The Gasman." Matt frowns. "Are they still alive?"

Angel bites her lip briefly. "I know where Gazzy is. He is living out on a farm in Wisconsin." She smiles. "There, in his remote area, he still blows inanimate objects up. Fang, on the other hand . . . We haven't heard from him since . . . well. In a long time. There's a possibility he could have came back, but if he did, he would be with Max. So I guess we'll just have to see, when we get to Nudge and Iggy's."

"What happened to Fang?" I ask. "Why is there all this mystery about him?"

Angel looks at me solemnly. "Kayden, I am afraid that is another question which I think I should leave Max to answer."

"Why? Why can't you answer it?" I ask.

"There are some things which I would have to tell you, that I really think would be better heard from Max. She knows the sides of the story better." Angel turns her head and looks straight forward, looking engrossed in her own thoughts.

**That's all for now! My apologies if it was somewhat . . . I dunno. Lacking in suspense . . . or something like that. I would write more, but I have a LONG day ahead of me tomorrow, and I have to get up really early. Review! Bye! ~Kristen**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! My many many apologies for the uber lateness of this…but I tried to make up for it with a really long chapter?**

**Disclaimer––Max and Flock and et cetera are owned by James Patterson. **

**Claimer––Kayden and her Flock and et cetera are owned by me. **

**Chapter 5**

**Kayden Pov. **

Three minutes. Angel said we will be arriving in three minutes to Nudge and Iggy's house. I couldn't be any more inthralled to be meeting some members of the infamous Flock! Even if it isn't Max that I'll be meeting, still . . . in three minutes I am going to be meeting Iggy and Nudge.

But yet, I still have this undeniable keenness and desire to find out more about this Fang guy. There was so much secrecy and questionability shrouding him.

"Alright, guys. This is the house, right down there." Angel nods towards an adequately sized home down below us and we descend into the woods behind it.

We walk up to the back door, and Angel knocks. A young woman with tan skin and thick hair opens the porch door, her eyes wide. "Angel!" She embraces her old friend genuinely.

"Mom?" A little girl behind her tilts her head, and a boy beside her frowns at the sight of us.

Nudge turns toward a man with strawberry blond hair next to her; they exchange glances. "Cameron, take your sister over to the park."

"What's going on?" The young teenager has a look of confusion on his face.

"Cameron." The man turns harshly toward his son. "Take Brooke to the park. Now. Come back back in an hour."

"You want us to stay at the _park _for an hour?" The boy folds his arms.

The man, whom I assume is Iggy, sighs, and pulls out a small wad of cash from his pocket. "Fine. Here's money for ice cream, or . . . something. Now go."

The young boy, finally somewhat satisfied, suspiciously leads his buoyant sister outside. Nudge smiles at her guests. "Come on in."

As she leads us into her living room I hear Nudge talking to Angel. "I can already tell which one is Kayden." Nudge glances at me.

"I know. The resemblance is shocking. Did you call Max?" Angel sits down beside her.

Nudge nods. "Yes, I called her as soon as I got your note."

Did she just say 'note'? How did Angel get her a note? That makes no sense. We've been with her the whole time, and she was in a Dome?

"When should we expect her?" Nudge asks.

"Her and Caroline are in Virginia, and they left as soon as I called her––"

"Max is bringing Caroline?" Angel asks in shock.

"Yes, well, something came up, and she had to bring her. Anyways, I think we should be expecting her early tomorrow morning." Nudge explains.

Angel lowers her voice. "And still no Fang?"

Nudge shakes her head. "Still no Fang." Then she frowns. "But . . . we did get something in the mail the other day. It was of some importance, perhaps. I'll show you later tonight."

Iggy clears his throat. "Perhaps you two would like to incorporate our guests in some conversation?"

Nudge's eyes widen. "Oh, of course! I am so sorry. I get carried away when I talk sometimes."

Iggy gives a snort of laughter; Nudge glowers at him briefly.

"Anyways. I'm Nudge, and this is Iggy." She implies. "Does your flock have a leader?"

Matt stands up and shakes her hand. "I'm Matt. I'm the leader. This is Kayden, Eli, Jennalie, Ryker, Morrie, Ray, and Shawn."

"Wow," Nudge whistles, "large flock, you've got there."

"I was thinking we should wait for some explanations until Max gets here." Angel adds.

Nudge concurs with a nod of the head. "I agree completely." She turns toward us. "If you guys have some questions, we can try to answer them, but there are some things we aren't going to answer until Max gets here."

That perks me up a bit. Max was, indeed, coming!

"Who's Caroline?" I immediately ask, referring to whom they were saying was coming with Max.

"Caroline is Max's daughter. She's a little younger than you; fourteen."

"This is so crazy." I say in disbelief. "I've always dreamt of meeting the Flock, and now here I am! And you all have children and . . ." Something suddenly dawned on me. "Wait . . . if you guys took down Itex, then why are they reopened?"

"Good question." Nudge scratches the back of her head. "You know how there's always one lamb who strays from the shepherd? Dr. Charles Carter. He wasn't involved with Itex at the time. I don't know how he seemed to escape and disappear right under their noses, but he did. And he took a group of clientele and white coats with him. This group kept growing and growing, and they basically reinvented Itex. Its not called Itex, anymore, but we still refer to it as Itex."

"And it sure didn't take them long to reestablish themselves." Iggy scoffed, his arms crossed.

"What did––" Matt shoots me a look that says _shut up and let me do the talking_.

I close my mouth unwillingly. Matt was the leader. I had to respect that, even if I didn't agree with it.

"Why didn't you try to bring them down again?" He asks.

"Well, we hadn't realized they were even trying to reestablish themselves until Max's first daughter was born." Iggy explains.

"Caroline?" I ask earnestly.

"No." He shakes his head.

"So Max has two daughters?" I question.

Iggy puts his head in his right hand and shakes his head. Nudge stumbles for words. "You could say that."

"Why is she only bringing one with her?" I query.

"Enough about Max." Matt shoots a glare at me again.

Angel looks at me, a blank expression on her face. "Its complicated." She turns back toward Matt. "About when we realized they had begun trials again, our Flock kind of started to split up. It started with Fang. And you know how it only takes one person to rock the boat." Her blank expression is replaced with a melancholy one. "Its a really long story. But that's kind of what we're expecting you to accomplish."

"_We're _supposed to take down Itex?" Eli exclaims in amusement. "Oh, that's a good one."

I look around at the rest of my Flock. Matt is getting an irritated demeanor. He obviously wanted to be the only one talking. What a shame; he didn't used to be so conceited.

Ryker is staring at the ground. His usual solemn look concreted permanently onto his face. He glances up when he sees me looking at him, and our eyes meet only momentarily before he turns away.

Eli and Morrie are looking a tad bit confused, and Shawn and Ray aren't exactly playing attention, but instead, having a thumb war. I know, what appropriate timing. I am thoroughly shocked that Matt hasn't caught on and yelled at them for it. Since he seems so fond of yelling lately.

Jennalie and I share an exasperated gaze, and then turn back toward Angel, Nudge, and Iggy.

The door opens and Cameron and Brooke walk inside. "Back so soon?" Nudge says sweetly.

"Its eleven o'clock. The park officer said we had to come home." Cameron states boldly.

"Gracious! Is it really that late?" Nudge exclaims. "Well, you guys have had a long journey. How about we all head to bead, and then we can talk some more once Max gets here tomorrow?"

"Auntie Max is coming?" Brooke blurts out in utter excitement.

"Yes." Nudge smiled at her daughter.

"Is Caroline coming?" Cameron asks, his voice still rather monotone.

"You bet!" Nudge ruffles his hair, causing him to scowl and fix it right back in place with his fingers. "Now, Angel, of course you can have the guest bedroom. Morrie, you can stay in Brooke's room on her bunk bead. Shawn, Ray, and Eli, we can get you some sleeping bags and you can stay in Cameron's room."

I can see Cameron's upper lip twitch in irritation.

Nudge continues, though, either completely unaware, or trying to ignore it. "Kayden and Jennalie, these couches pull out into beds. And . . . hmm . . . Ryker you can take the couch over there. It doesn't turn into a bed, though. And Matt, goodness, I have never had to sleep so many people in this house! We can pull you out a blow-up mattress and you can sleep on the floor in the living room here with the girls and Ryker."

Everyone disperses into their assigned areas, and I collapse on the my couch/bed. This seems so surreal. I was going to get to meet Maximum Ride! I can hardly contain my excitement. Though, of course, I still wish I can meet Fang. I sigh inwardly. Perhaps, in time, I will be able to.

Jennalie comes and sits down next to me. "Has the suspense killed you, yet?"

I smile at her. "Just about."

"They explain everything so secretively." She shakes her head.

"I've been dying to ask about this Fang character. But Matt won't let anyone get a word in."

Jennalie shakes her head. "I know. I wonder what's gotten into him."

I laugh quietly. "Pride."

"By the by, I'm starting to worry about him." She gestures toward Ryker in the corner on his couch, staring up at the ceiling. "I think he's depressed."

"Don't we all?" I snicker.

She tilts her head. "I'm serious, Kayden."

"Don't worry about. I think he's fine. He's always been like that. Since he was a kid. He was like that when he was five." I shake my head.

"Really? How do you know?" She inquires.

"Yeah. Ryker and I were the first of our Flock who were kidnapped, remember? I basically grew up my whole life with him." I have already told her this . . . but Jennalie is so air-headed sometimes.

"Oh. Oh, that's right. I totally forgot. And then came Matt."

"And then came Matt. Followed by you, and so on." I reply.

Jennalie looks over toward Ryker. Hmm . . . I sense intimacy and/or longing!

After a small silence, she breaks the tacitness, "Its late. We should probably get some sleep tomorrow. I have a feeling we have a long day ahead of us."

"I have a feeling you're right." I agree.

She stands up and goes over to her pull-out bed. Ryker looks toward us because of the stir of our movement. Was there something going on between he and Jennalie? But he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at me. "Night." I mouth to him.

He nods, as if to say 'likewise' and then turns over on his side.

I take a deep breath and hope for the best. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?

**There ya have it! Review! Do I have your forgiveness, readers, for the crazy lateness? ~Kristen**


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